A Clearinghouse for Martensdale-St. Marys Community Schools Professional Development

Monday, March 7, 2011

Whatever It Takes, Chapter 10

We have reached the final chapter of Whatever It Takes, and I cannot thank you enough for your insight and commitment to our study of this book. I hope it has been enlightening, challenged your thinking, and raised some questions. As we conclude professional development for the 2010-2011 school year, take some time to reflect on what it means for the students in your classroom and the district as a whole. We will revisit your ideas from the February 16th in-service before the year is out in an effort to put our collective learning and thinking into systemic action.

1. What is the primary message the authors are attempting to convey with this chapter?

2. The authors cite research that concludes a climate of “high expectations for student achievement” is a critical element of effective schools, but then suggest that the term has been widely misunderstood and misapplied. Clarify the nature of “high expectations” in a PLC.

3. If you were called upon to build a system of interventions to assist students with their learning, what is a short-term win you would plan to achieve in the first 3 months and how would you celebrate that win?

9 comments:

1. They are attempting to convey a "just do it" attitude. They also encouraged schools to have high expectations for the students. Change for all schools is required. They encourage us to celebrate the small things during the transition period. Assessments show the for learning rather than the of learning. The also encouraged self-advocacy for teachers. The stressed the importance of learning rather than teaching. They would like to see more student and parent involvement in the education of the students.2. It is not just cheerleading for our students. It goes back to the assessment for learning, not of learning. High expectations for all students is required. It is finding expections for all students that is within thier means for what they can do. It is important to set "smart goals" for all students at the levels that is attainable for each individual students. 3. Title 1 Math: Setting up a program for those students who struggle with math but do not qualify for special education math. Writing: Finding the time to do writing without being interupted by specials- having a specific time for writing

1. This chapter's main idea is that changing a school's culture is a long process that takes time. You can't just fix the problem, it's something that takes a substantial amount of time and effort in order to change the culture. The problem is deeply rooted in the school's culture.

2. The goal is not only to motivate the student and raise the bar of student success, but it's also giving the teacher the skills necessary in order to do so.

3. Developing a plan to better identify student needs. We would have 3 months to ensure we have a system in place to identify every students' needs. Rewards for teachers could maybe be a staff breakfast or jeans or something like that. For a student, they could have a fun day or fun period, seminar, etc.

1. Change the overlaying culture of the school! You can accomplish this by words/promises accompanied by action. We want to change the focus from teaching to learning. The essential, indepensible culture of the school must be one that of success.

2.High expectations - goals set for individuals and groups only work if they are part the daily routine and constantly reviewed and revised. Goals must be out of the relm of current achievement yet be those kind of goals which we can train and help students achieve, coupled with motivation.

3.Success breds success, once students see small achievement they can gain that confidence needed to inspire them to reach higher goals. We would let the student decide how to celebrate the win, or at least give input.

1. Change the overlaying culture of the school! You can accomplish this by words/promises accompanied by action. We want to change the focus from teaching to learning. The essential, indepensible culture of the school must be one that of success.

2.High expectations - goals set for individuals and groups only work if they are part the daily routine and constantly reviewed and revised. Goals must be out of the relm of current achievement yet be those kind of goals which we can train and help students achieve, coupled with motivation.

3.Success breds success, once students see small achievement they can gain that confidence needed to inspire them to reach higher goals. We would let the student decide how to celebrate the win, or at least give input.

1. The focus is on the learning that needs to take place rather than the teaching, and that PLC groups are designed to benefit students by teachers working together rather than alone.

2. Some teachers focus on positive reinforcement and nurturing students rather than challenging them. They focus more on making students feel good about themselves. Some teachers raise the bar to challenge students, but do not give them the support they need to meet the goals. In PLCs, teachers need to be on the same page with expectations and support.

3. We would first need to set up a system of assessments, exercises, and scoring procedures that would reflect student achievement. We would also have to provide time in our daily schedule to use these assessments and discuss them.To "celebrate", our PLC groups would be able to share at monthly meetings their success stories in the classrooms, and possible challenges they are facing. This would allow other PLC teams to provide input and suggestions. Successes will be recognized, i.e., food, balloons, ribbons...

1. What is the primary message the authors are attempting to convey with this chapter?

It’s not about making little changes here or there, it’s a whole school wide culture change in which people change how we think, act, and feel. The culture of our school needs to be that we want every student to learn to their full potential and view teachers, not as dispensers of knowledge, but as coaches to help guide students’ learning.

2. The authors cite research that concludes a climate of “high expectations for student achievement” is a critical element of effective schools, but then suggest that the term has been widely misunderstood and misapplied. Clarify the nature of “high expectations” in a PLC.

The teachers have to change their teaching perception and adapt to the students’ needs in order to help students be successful. We need to raise the bar and provide the additional support needed to meet that expectation.

3. If you were called upon to build a system of interventions to assist students with their learning, what is a short-term win you would plan to achieve in the first 3 months and how would you celebrate that win?One win would be breaking down the big goal into small achievements. Celebrations could take the form of rewards for improvement or something along the lines of the ‘Coke for a compliment’ the elementary staff does. Just acknowledging those little steps for students and teachers can mean a lot and be a motivation boost.

1) The primary message the authors are trying to convey about this chapter is that teachers need to focus on student learning rather than on teaching.

2) The most important feature of high expections for teachers is to believe that they can have an impact on student achievement. It is not hoping students will do better or working them based on their ability level. Teachers need to know that they can inspire and help all students reach higher levels of achievement.

3. A short term win might be to get 50% of the students off of the D/F list by the end of the 3rd month. If this is achieved we could have some sort of celebration similar to our "Blue Devil" games. For the teachers a fun activity during one of the afternoon inservices would be a great reward.

1. The primary discussion is changing the culture of a school. He sums up the chapter by saying that small changes are good but a change in culture is what is necessary for higher expections. A change in culture from families and society to raise educational expectations.

2. High expectations are not just raising the bar, but working hand and hand with students to guide them through every level of achievement. Teachers need to be supportive in creating the high expectations in a way of guidance or back up support. We help them achieve, but we cannot coddle students, we need to build a culture of self-suffiency. Students need to be able to aquire skills, stumble a bit and learn from their mistakes. Students gain confidence in themselves when the achieve.

3. A short term goal is to target a group of students that are not acheiving and reaching short term goals of finished homework, etc. A culture of recognition of small achievements of students and staff. Recognizing staff and students for positive achievements would raise the morale of the school. A culture of recognizing students for good behavior, attendance, etc. would be beneficial for raising high expectations.